“We expect that while it is too early to model the new business with any degree of certainty, we expect the company’s liquid assets and early positive momentum could limit downside in shares in the near term,” analyst Scott Thompson said in a note.

BlackBerry shares were last up 6.2% to $9.54.

12:39 pm | Prana Biotechnology soars | by Anora Mahmudova

Prana Biotechnology Ltd shares soared more than 35%, making it the best performing stock on the Nasdaq Composite today.

Marek Fuchs in his Outside the Box column warns people not to get too excited about it and argues why comparing Tesla to Amazon.com is wrong: electric car maker and e-commerce giant couldn't be more different.

Before it gains even more traction this week, let’s kill a conventional thought in its crib: Tesla Motors Inc is simply not the next Amazon.com Inc.

It is great news if you were holding shares before today. It is even better news if you are Carl Icahn and owned 30 million shares according to the latest F-13 filing.

For more on how Icahn claims his activism helped the share prices, read our Tell post.

11:41 am | "Beware of sideways markets" | by Anora Mahmudova

Vitaliy N. Katsenelson, CFA, is CIO at Investment Management Associates in Denver, Colorado, in a note wrote that we are entering a "sideways markets" and how we need it to get valuations below historical averages.

Sideways markets are there to destroy hope. It is when nobody wants to own stocks ever again, when valuations are below their historical average, that a secular sideways market finally dies (actually, more like goes into hibernation), and the next secular bull market is born.

To believe we are in the midst of a secular bull market, you have to be very comfortable with three things, starting with profit margins. Today corporate profit margins are hitting all-time highs. Historically, profit margins have been mean-reverting.

Second, even if you are comfortable with high profit margins, you have to make an assumption that economic (revenue) growth will be robust going forward.

And finally, you have to believe that price-earnings ratios can expand from their current level. I have news for you: In the past, sideways markets started (bull markets ended) when valuations were at current levels.

11:24 am | Main indexes | by Anora Mahmudova

The Dow industrials average has been flirting with being in positive territory, but the range remain very narrow.

The S&P 500 is less than 10 points away from its all-time high it reached on January 15.

But both the blue-chip and benchmark indexes are still down for the year.

The Nasdaq Composite is powering on, however, having clocked in a 2.3% gain since the start of the year. The tech-heavy index is up 0.7% today.

11:11 am | Tesla chart | by Victor Reklaitis

That's quite a move by Tesla's stock over the past 12 months.

It's gone from below $40 a share to above $200 -- more than quintupling.

Hope you bought early and held on.

10:59 am | More on Tesla | by Victor Reklaitis

The main indexes aren’t making big moves, but Tesla has hit a new all-time high.

He says he has to go back to October to find a similar jump from oversold to overbought for the S&P 500.

And looking at the action then, he thinks it's likely the benchmark index now will trend sideways.

Krinsky writes:

"It is important to note that while the SPX didn't run away to the upside in weeks following that October bounce, it also didn't give back much ground. Essentially it traded sideways for a few weeks, alleviating overbought conditions. We think that is a likely scenario for the current environment."

10:52 am | Technician sees consolidation | by Victor Reklaitis

Traders should expect U.S. stocks to catch their breath after last week's advance.

That's a takeaway from a note this morning by Jonathan Krinsky, chief market technician at MKM Partners.

The title of the note starts as follows: "SPX Short-Term Overbought - Expect Some Consolidation"

10:44 am | Europe mostly lower | by Victor Reklaitis

European stock markets are poised to close mostly lower on Tuesday after the German ZEW survey indicated investors are less optimistic about the economic future in the euro zone’s largest economy than they were a month ago.

The stock market often cheers big M&A news, and there have been a couple big deals announced lately.

The Wall Street Journal story on the Actavis-Forest Labs deal says:

“The deal would come as a welcome relief for a merger and acquisition market that has been in the doldrums as a result of tepid economic growth and CEO and boardroom sentiment that still hasn’t completely recovered from the financial crisis.”

The big deal comes on the heels of the Comcast-Time Warner Cable news, and so it “could be a sign that there is hope the deals market will turn in a respectable performance on 2014,” the WSJ adds.

The Dow and S&P 500 are staying in negative territory after the report.

A gauge of confidence among home builders plunged in February, dropping to the lowest level in nine months, led by weaker views on present sales of single-family homes, reports MarketWatch’s Ruth Mantell.

10:00 am | Choppy ahead of NAHB index | by Victor Reklaitis

The Dow has fallen back in negative territory, and the S&P 500 has also dropped into the red in the last few minutes.

The Nasdaq is staying positive.

Stocks are choppy, struggling for direction.

The housing market index from the National Association of Home Builders is about to hit, so we'll see if that economic data point provides more direction.

The Dow is slightly lower in the early going today, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq have been slightly higher.

Dow -12 points

S&P 500 +1 point

Nasdaq +13 points

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